By Leon Gettler, Talking Business >>

PRINTING provider KwikKopy is rebranding itself as part of a new and successful growth strategy.

It comes after a hard, few years for the company. KwikKopy had been in decline for the last 12 years, from a revenue perspective.

The organisation had been growing steadily up until the global financial crisis (GFC). The franchise business stopped growing from 2008 when the GFC hit.

In the 11 years until COVID-19, it had declined 16.78 percent. The number of KwikKopy centres had gone from 108 to 92. The result: a 17 percent decline in top line sales revenues and a 13 percent decline in its footprint of store locations.

However, last year the business grew for the first time since 2008, growing 2.8 percent on pre-COVID numbers, and that was with the business in Sydney and Melbourne struggling with COVID conditions. Taking the Sydney and Melbourne CBD operations out, the rest of the business grew 11 percent. 

Back on track

This year the business is expecting to grow 7 percent. The figures at the end of Q1 show it’s on track to meet that.

KwikKopy has re-engaged with its franchise network and brought in a lot of new infrastructure and technology. With automation, it is looking to increase productivity in the centres.

Sonia Schwabsky, KwikKopy’s CEO, said the company’s growth strategy was now focused on two areas in its new format.

First, it has moved from a focus on small format – A3 and A4 – print. In the last year it has moved into the wide format of signage.

“That really had a renaissance during the COVID times. If you recall, there were floors, stickers and window signage and all of that really started to become a strong area,” Ms Schwabsky told Talking Business.

“Luckily KwikKopy had identified this a couple of years before and we’re really investing heavily in becoming known for signage at the same level as signage providers.”

She said the other big growth area for the company was design.

“We’ve always done design but probably always connected to print,” Ms Schwabsky said.

“We see design as an area with all the new technology that people have at their disposal, you’ve got do-it-yourself tools like Canva.

“But what do you do when you’ve outgrown doing it yourself? Where do you go? What’s your next step?

“There is a great opportunity for KwikKopy to provide those services,” Ms Schwabsky said. “We have a lot of graphic designers in our midst and we are looking at ways to bolster that supply line.”   

More complete marketing services company

In short, Ms Schwabsky is making sure that KwikKopy has much more of a ‘marketing services’ approach to its customers.

She said parts of the business, such as administrative print, training manuals and business cards, had declined with digitisation.

“Like you do with any good category management product management, these things are in decline, what are the things that will replace them?” she said.

Ms Schwabsky said signage and short-run packaging – due to the e-commerce and online “explosion” – have picked up the slack.

“We can do things quickly, we can do things close to where you are, and we can do short runs which dovetails into the next big change in our industry, which is digital,” she said.

“So digital marketing, digital advertising, that’s the natural way things move.

“If you’re a small business, then we need to empower entrepreneurs to make their mark on the world. So we’re looking at digital signage and that digital space.”  

Hear the complete interview and catch up with other topical business news on Leon Gettler’s Talking Business podcast, released every Friday at www.acast.com/talkingbusiness.

https://play.acast.com/s/talkingbusiness/talking-business-39-interview-with-sonia-shwabsky-from-kwikk

ends

BRISBANE-Headquartered Ausenco, a global integrated engineering and consulting services provider to the minerals and metals industries – and increasingly the energy transition market – has confirmed a ‘definitive agreement’ to sell a majority stake to bidders Eldridge, Brightstar Capital Partners, and Claure Group.

Ausenco’s co-founder, Zimi Meka, will remain CEO, board member and investor.  Mike Burke, the former chairman and CEO of AECOM, served as an advisor and partner to Eldridge and the buyer consortium and he is expected to join Ausenco’s board of directors as chairman.

The consortium has bought a majority stake in Ausenco from Resource Capital Fund VI L.P. and other co-investors. 

Founded in 1991, Ausenco’s 3,000 employees are focused on the world’s most challenging engineering and consulting projects, drawing on deep technical expertise with a commitment to sustainably delivering end-to-end solutions for its clients and their communities.

Ausenco’s team of scientists, engineers and professionals design and build efficient mine and metal extraction facilities; deliver sustainable mine waste and water management, and mine closure and remediation solutions; and engage with local and Indigenous communities to create lasting benefit.

“We’ve always been about challenging what’s possible and delivering services sustainably and with integrity,” Mr Meka said. “From permitting to closure, our people are finding better ways to plan projects, efficiently use resources, protect the environment, and deliver value to clients and communities. In Eldridge, Brightstar, and Claure Group we have partners that understand this ambition and our culture.”

Eldridge co-founders Todd Boehly, Tony Minella and Duncan Bagshaw made a joint statement: “We invest in what people need and what people want – both qualities expressed in Ausenco’s activity the past three decades.

“Ausenco has worked around the world to deliver minerals critical to nearly every aspect of our lives and to the ongoing energy transition. We are excited to partner with a world-class management team to further enhance and diversify their service offerings.”

Brightstar Capital Partners founder and CEO, Andrew Weinberg said, “Ausenco plays a vital role in facilitating the global transition to electrification and electric vehicles.  Brightstar is confident that Ausenco is strategically positioned for future growth due to its impressive track record of performance, and the anticipated increased demand for metals and minerals that are essential to sustainable solutions.”

Claure Group founder and CEO, Marcelo Claure, who will join Ausenco’s board, said, “With the shift to more sustainable energy gaining momentum, Latin America will have a key role to play as the main producing region for essential minerals, such as copper and lithium.

“Given Ausenco’s strong presence and pipeline of projects in the region, we believe the company will be at the forefront of this transition, actively contributing to the electrification of the world.”

Claure Group is a multi-billion-dollar global investment firm spanning multiple high growth sectors including tech, telecom, media, real estate, essential minerals, and sports, led by Marcelo Claure. Notable investments include T-Mobile, where Claure is the largest individual shareholder; SHEIN, the global number one on-demand fashion company; Bicycle Capital, a Latin America focused growth equity fund; and Brightstar Capital Partners, a leading US middle market private equity firm.

Perella Weinberg Partners is acting as exclusive financial advisor to Ausenco in connection with the transaction.

www.ausenco.com

www.eldridge.com

www.brightstarcp.com

ASX-LISTED Gold Hydrogen has today begun drilling its first exploration well on South Australia’s Yorke Peninsula, aiming to prove a large natural hydrogen field exists in the area.

The South Australian Government Department for Energy and Mining has given final approvals to commence drilling, meaning Gold Hydrogen will become the first Australian company to try to show near carbon-free hydrogen exists naturally in the Earth’s sub-surface in commercial quantities.

Gold Hydrogen was formed after geologists uncovered century-old records from oil and gas drilling tests on the Yorke Peninsula. The tests found hydrogen at about 90 percent purity, but hydrogen was of no commercial value back in the early 1900s.

Armed with the historic data – and with hydrogen becoming a key component in Australia’s drive to reach net zero emissions – Gold Hydrogen has moved quickly in its bid to be the first company to prove low-cost natural hydrogen exists in Australia.

The company listed on the ASX this year. It won final drilling approvals from the SA Government today and, with support of the landowner, is now preparing to start drilling.

Internationally recognised SLB (formerly Schlumberger) and Savanna Energy are leading the drill program for Gold Hydrogen.

The first well to be drilled, Ramsay 1, is adjacent to the historic well, where the tests more than 90 years ago showed hydrogen. A second site in the PEL 687 tenement area will be ready for drilling next month. 

Strong support for ‘natural hydrogen’ quest

Gold Hydrogen managing director Neil McDonald said the company was grateful for the support it has received from stakeholders and the pace at which the SA Government had moved to enable exploration. 

“The South Australians have moved faster on hydrogen than anyone,” Mr McDonald said. “As you can imagine, there is huge excitement in our team as we try to be the first in this country to discover natural hydrogen.”

The natural hydrogen phenomenon is relatively new, with a small town in Mali already powered by natural hydrogen, and major exploration plays underway in Europe, North and South America and in other areas in Africa.

The Gold Hydrogen’s leadership group believes hydrogen is continuously produced from the interaction underground of certain rock formations and water. Independent estimates have shown that the South Australian field could hold enough gas to power the city of Adelaide for 40 years.

Getting natural hydrogen from the sub-surface could come at a major cost discount to man-made hydrogen, such as green hydrogen made with renewable energy or blue hydrogen from natural gas.

Mr McDonald said Australia needed projects such as this to succeed to achieve its net zero goals.

“We hope to be part of the solution, and we’ll know in weeks how big an opportunity this is for us, and the country,” he said.

www.goldhydrogen.com.au

ends

By Leon Gettler, Talking Business >>

JIM’S GROUP, the company behind outfits like Jim’s Mowing, Jim’s Dog Wash, and Jim’s Cleaning, has had spectacular growth.

Jim Penman, who created the company, said the growth might come from what’s been termed the ‘Great Resignation’ – a recent phenomenon of many people leaving their jobs – and he also saw that a great many of Jim’s franchisees were immigrants.

Mr Penman said another reason for the growth was that the franchisees were working from home.

Jim’s has a policy where all work is localised, so franchisees don’t have to drive to work that’s more than 10 to 15 minutes away from their home. It means commuting is kept to a minimum.

“The aim of the system is to reduce travelling to an extreme degree” Mr Penman told Talking Business. 

“So someone might be spending their whole day working within a 10 to 15 minute drive from their house.”

He said many studies had found that people hate commuting more than anything.

“They reckon that someone on $75,000 a year who is working from home or close by has the same level of satisfaction as someone on $150,000 with an hour long commute,” he said.

“It sounds astonishing but that’s what the research shows.”

Franchises to suit most people

Jim’s Group has 52 franchises. The most successful are mowing, dog wash, pool care, cleaning, fencing, pest control, handyman, security doors, IT and book-keeping.

The most popular is mowing. Dog wash is the fastest growing.

Australians and New Zealanders find it easy to make the transition to running their own business because they are egalitarian, according to Mr Penman. He said it was “a distinctive feature of Australian society”.

“If you were in Texas and you said you were leaving some corporate desk job to go and start a lawn mowing business, people would say, ‘Come on, you’re going to work with your hands? That’s for Mexicans and blacks, the lesser breeds,” Mr Penman said.

“But in Australia, if you’re a manager and you want to run your own business, you’d say ‘Isn’t that great? I always wanted to be self-employed’.

“This idea of independence is very Australian.”

Making ‘a go’ of own business

Australians loved the idea of being in charge of their own business, Mr Penman said.

As a result, he said a lot of people with corporate backgrounds in management become franchisees.

“The opportunities are quite extraordinary and we find that people with that background tend to do very well,” he said.

Mr Penman said the group encouraged franchisees to employ people and build a workforce for their company. The fee of $800 (per month) was nothing compared with what they would be making.

The top companies in the Jim’s Group had turnover in the millions, he said.

“If you are actually successful and can take on workers, you can be turning over a vast sum of money and your fees would be $800 a month. It’s almost trivial,” Mr Penman said.

He said the biggest problem was finding good people, Mr Penman said.

Most people select a franchise because it’s better for their lifestyle, according to Mr Penman said.

“They tend to say $120,000 a year is all I need but I want to see my kids growing up,” he said.

www.jims.net

www.leongettler.com

Hear the complete interview and catch up with other topical business news on Leon Gettler’s Talking Business podcast, released every Friday at www.acast.com/talkingbusiness.

https://play.acast.com/s/talkingbusiness/talking-business18-interview-with-jim-penman-from-jims-group